Lovely Awkward: A Year of Wine, Romance and Life Among the French

Lovely Awkward: A Year of Wine, Romance and Life Among the French

Saturday 6 February 2010

My first vineyard

We were driving somewhere about an hour from Nice to go shopping yesterday, when we started to pass signs for different wine places. Little stubby trees had appeared in the fields, all in rows and tied, all with empty limbs.

I asked, "Can we go to a vineyard?" but hadn't meant right then.

The weather was cold and it had been raining, which had left mud on the ground and a rainbow in the sky.

I've been to vineyards before, but none in France.

When we drove up to the building that was at the top of a small hill over some fields, it looked exactly as I had pictured it. Old, brownish, with people who worked there walking around, trees growing in interesting ways near shuttered windows.

Inside, we saw only one room. We tasted six different wines and then bought six bottles of the ones we liked best. It wasn't the big drink-and-talk-philosophy event I thought it could be, but it was cute. It was fun. And now I know how these places work.

(Thus, the late night away from the computer.)

2 comments:

  1. Honestly...I've been following this story for a while, and I'm getting a little frustrated. All this talk about vistas and driving and this restaurant and that vineyard.

    When are you going to talk about your relationship? How are things going between you and this "somewhat stranger" that you've found yourself living with? you had a pretty significant talk the other day...what gives? I know these details are private...but the story is pointless and empty without them. Give us some emotion!

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  2. Ugh!

    There are two reasons why I've been writing a little more about where I've been than about what I've been feeling. The main one is that I was starting to worry that some people might be getting tired of reading about my uncertainty in the relationship! I can tell you about it if you want to hear it, but the feelings are somewhat convoluted and they change every day. This adjustment is really hard on me and sometimes that makes things hard on both of us. It's also fun, terribly romantic and more dream-like than real at times. It's a whirlwind in all senses.

    The second reason is that I've been writing about my feelings more in the book, with more specific examples and more description about conversations and our reactions, etc. It's easier to write about them in a book format, because I can look at the whole experience of the phase I'm in (which I'm still just winging), rather than just giving little updates like this blog. Sometimes I feel a little emotioned out trying to talk about what I'm feeling now AND what I was feeling at the time of whatever chapter I'm working on.

    But... I can do more of that if you're still up for it.

    We have to go out now to try and find me a smaller scooter (which I won't accidentally drop). But if you want some more info on the emotional side, I can post something when we get back. Good?

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